Category Archives: nick fury

Here’s something that appeals only to fanboys: what the hell does HAMMER stand for? Ever since SHIELD died a horrible death in the wake of Secret Invasion, we’ve been hearing about Norman Osborn’s newer, eviller organization: HAMMER. But the acronym was left unexplained. For a while, at least:

So Norman Osborn admits what some had guessed: HAMMER means nothing at all. It was picked simply because it sounds cool.

Not that SHIELD was always 100% certain what it stood for. In the days of Jim Steranko’s Nick Fury series, it stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. In recent days, we had Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate. And, in the movies, we have the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (Personally, I prefer the original one).

Clearly, the lesson for Norman Osborn is this: if you want your shadowy, sinister death squad to last, pick the name early. You’ve got the pin those letters down, and never waver. We’ll probably get something like this:

the ceebeegeebee vault

Are you a ceebeegee?

Have you tried to explain to someone who has never read a comic book the difference between Earth-1 and Earth-2? Can you name more than three kinds of kyptonite? Do you get excited whenever the mainstream media covers a comic-related story? Do you have longboxes full of comics you occasionally flip through nostagically? If so, my friend, you are a ceebeegee. Welcome home.